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TreesPlease Video games, a studio based in 2019 to make significant video games that may be good for the planet and are cherished by thousands and thousands, has been formally unveiled alongside the reveal of their debut recreation, Longleaf Valley, and $8m of seed funding.
TreesPlease believes in creating video games that gamers love that additionally make a distinction whereas they play. The group of 15 combines expertise from a breadth of studios, bringing collectively Free to Play and Informal Gaming specialists from throughout the business, united by a typical aim to make use of their expertise to enact change for the planet.
Led by CEO and co- founder Laura Carter, the ex NaturalMotion, Sq. Enix and PlayStation veteran has based the studio with the imaginative and prescient of inspiring players to develop into a pressure for good. Pushed by the massive scale and potential of the video games business to drive optimistic change, Laura noticed the chance to carry collectively her personal ardour for shielding animals and the atmosphere along with her expertise within the video games business. The studio believes in giving gamers the prospect to do one thing significant and impactful with their playtime.
Funding has been led initially by Lakestar at pre-seed, with an additional funding spherical led by March Gaming with Lakestar supporting, elevating a further $3.5m in funds. A spherical of angel buyers from throughout the video games business (together with David Helgason (Unity) , Chris Lee (Activision/Media Molecule), Shaun Rutland (Hutch) and Will Stephens (Fusebox)) carry each funding and business experience to the brand new studio.
Based in late 2019, the studio launched their debut recreation Longleaf Valley in stealth final yr and have since planted over 300 thousand timber forward of the sport’s official announcement. They’re on monitor to plant over one million timber earlier than the top of 2023.
Working in partnership with Eden Reforestation Initiatives to plant gamers timber the place they’re wanted probably the most, the sport proposition follows a ‘Play It, Plant It’ precept. The gameplay type sits throughout the quickly rising merge class, with a core mechanic of merging seeds to make saplings and saplings to a tree, working as an expression of the core concept of rising and restoring nature and rescuing animals alongside the best way. Longleaf Valley focuses on restoring a as soon as thriving park that has suffered the consequences of company greed and local weather change. As gamers progress via the recreation they’re able to plant timber in the true world merely via enjoying, fulfilled by Eden Reforestation Initiatives.
TreesPlease will use the funding to spend money on the success of their debut recreation via person acquisition, rising the group and ongoing improvement of the sport.
Laura Carter, CEO & Co-Founding father of TreesPlease Video games, stated: “I’ve been decided to make a distinction for animals and the atmosphere from as younger as three years outdated. A childhood ardour for fundraising and supporting charities like Greenpeace adopted via into maturity the place I volunteered with varied animal and environmental charities and have become an activist, becoming a member of protests throughout my lunch hours while working within the video games business. I used to be making a distinction, however I knew there was a lot extra to do and I wished to dedicate extra time to those essential causes. I made a decision to mix my ardour for constructing video games with my drive to assist save animals and the atmosphere to create a studio that made a distinction at its central mission. As we come out of stealth to announce TreesPlease Video games and Longleaf Valley, I couldn’t be extra excited and proud of our unbelievable group’s achievements with each our first recreation and the affect we’re making for our planet and all life.”
Eden Reforestation Venture, stated “By panorama restoration, we’re in a position to provide communities elevated livelihood alternatives to revive their pure atmosphere via nature-based options to local weather change. The imaginative and prescient and drive behind the TreesPlease group led to conversations with Laura about sponsoring our restoration work. By their partnership, we’re in a position to facilitate panorama restoration and neighborhood improvement for communities internationally. We sit up for our continued partnership with TreesPlease.”
Mika Salmi, Managing Companion at Lakestar VC, stated: “We met Laura when she first began TreesPlease and was but to lift cash. Once we heard about her idea to create a recreation the place enjoying brought on a optimistic affect on the Planet, we have been rapidly excited. The kicker for us was that Laura and her early group have been world class recreation builders. As buyers, we knew that creating a very good recreation should come first however the large win is that the video games they create are doing good and make the gamers be ok with their playtime.”
